That Inscrutable Netflix AI

[dreamshark]

I looked up Moon on Netflix, decided it looked like something I might enjoy (thanks, jiawen ), and added it to my queue. I gather from the description that it's an introspective sci-fi movie about a guy on a lonely moon base.  Netflix, as is its wont, decided that if I was interested in Moon I would probably like some of their other offerings:

• 12 Monkeys - well, okay.  Intelligent sci-fi, makes sense. I did, in fact, like 12 Monkeys. So maybe Moon will be a good choice for me!
• The Man Who Fell to Earth - ditto.
• Inception - I see where they're going with this.
• Richard III - well, no. I guess I don't see where they're going.
• The Bad Seed - WTF?
• Tommy - Right. Because, as mle292 likes to say - they're practically the same movie. Hey, I own the Tommy double album! So obviously I'm going to love Moon! I hope it's got good songs!

Comments

[pameladean]

Which Richard III? I'm wondering if they are going with works that have actors in common, after they run out of thematic similarities.

P.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Which totally explains "The Bad Seed"

LOL - I see what they're doing (idjits)

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

They've assigned multiple keywords to each movie and are trying to find other movies with the same keywords. Pandora does something like this, but they do it right. Pandora assigns each song in their database a set of qualifiers and then shows other songs that match ALL OF THEM (or at least most of them).

Netflix, on the other hand, is showing movies that have just one keyword in common, which is how they come up with ludicrous matches like "Moon" and "Tommy."

Moon: Cerebral, Dark, Mind-Bending, Understated
Tommy: Campy, Imaginative, Mind-bending
Bad Seed: Suspenseful, Scary, Understated

Re: LOL - I see what they're doing (idjits)

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

At least they've starting trying to weight the keywords. They're now asking me how often I like movies with this or that quality as opposed to another quality.

Re: LOL - I see what they're doing (idjits)

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Does this strike you as an answerable question?

Re: LOL - I see what they're doing (idjits)

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

Only sometimes. Like, I often enjoy witty humor and only occasionally enjoy dark drama. But really, I don't parse my tastes like that and they don't seem to get the factors that distinguish shows I really like (frex Buffy) from imitations (frex Charmed).

[jiawen]

You're welcome!

Moon was directed (and written, too, I think) by Duncan Jones, son of David Bowie. That could also explain some of it, maybe. (Jones also directed, as maybe wrote, Source Code, which makes it sound a lot better than the commercials have been making it sound.)

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I'm tempted by Source Code, esp. since it's a time travel story. On the other hand, it sounds a little like, "Hey, guess what! We came up with a fantastic idea for a skiffy movie where there has to be a huge explosion every 8 minutes!"